The present invention relates to an arrangement for support and guiding of a casting as issuing from a continuous casting machine or installation, and more particularly the invention relates to guiding the casting in a curve by means of exchangeable support elements.
Continuous casting equipment includes guide and support rolls which are particularly provided and arranged to veer the casting from its vertically oriented movement on leaving the mold, to a horizontal direction. Occasionally the equipment is altered for producing a casting of different dimensions. Also, repairs have to be made on the guiding structure. Thus, the support rolls have in the past been mounted to permit e.g. lateral displacement (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,829). It is also known to provide for a curved guiding structure of the casting which permits folding away (down) when necessary (see for example Austrian Pat. No. 242,310). Either type of equipment requires considerable expenditure as far as the mechanics as well as space requirements is concerned. Moreover, these known stands have the specific disadvantage that upon failure of a single roll the entire guiding arrangement for the casting is affected.
The aforementioned drawbacks are particularly pronounced for continuously casting of slab ingots with rectangular cross-section at a height to width ratio of 1:3 or less. It has to be considered here that the continuous casting equipment requires special provisions to prevent bulging of the solidifying skin, while the core is still liquidous, and involving particularly the broad side of the slab. Particularly in the case of high casting speeds, thick castings and generally tall equipment, it is customary to construct the support equipment along the withdrawal path of the casting from several parts, also called support segments.
Generally speaking, the rolls can be equidistantly spaced in these known installations and for the entire support length of the issuing casting. However, if the vertical dimensions in the stand are increased, such as in the direction towards the center of the curvature, the equidistant spacing has to be disturbed in that the rolls of adjacent segments may now be spaced farther apart than the rolls in each segment along the radially outer portion of the withdrawal path for the casting; otherwise the withdrawal path would assume circle segment like configuration with a discontinuity from segment to segment. Removability of the segments remains however mandatory. On the other hand, the local increase in spacing between rolls favors bulging thereat, and the quality of the casting deteriorates because cracks may more readily form on the inside as well as on the outside of the casting. Moreover, large forces are reacted into casting if its dimensions are large. These forces result from thermally developed stress and resistance of the rolls, Thus, the support and holding equipment must be quite strong, particularly for holding the support segments in the direction of the forces acting along the path of the casting for withdrawing it. It can readily be seen that ease of removal and sturdiness of construction are opposing constraints.